News and Announcements

The Chinese Culture Club Annual New Year Celebration will be on February 15, 2019! You all are invited to join us for this fun and exciting party. We will have food, music, dance, and performance to make this Friday night a lasting memorable one.

LESP is offering a free course in English as a New Language (ENL) and Weight Training for parents and families. Please join us every Wednesday night from 6pm to 8pm in Room 471. You don’t have to worry about missing a class— come and we will work with you. Call 212-432-8929 for more information.

Dear Families and Staff: This is a follow-up to my February 8, 2017 water test results notification letter. I am pleased to share we have successfully completed remediation work at J.H.S. 25 – Manhattan (Lower East Side Preparatory High School at 145 Stanton Street, Manhattan, NY 10002) and on May 10, 2018 and August 22, 2018 and November 28, 2018, the remediated fixtures were tested and the final laboratory results indicate that all samples taken and tested were below the action level of 15 ppb.

On January 28, 2017 and May 10, 2018, every operational source of water, including for drinking or preparing food, at J.H.S. 25 – Manhattan was tested for lead. The laboratory results showed elevated levels of lead in 12 of the 117 samples of water taken and tested from outlets in the building. Each affected fixture at J.H.S. 25 – Manhattan was taken out of service on February 8, 2017, and the remediation work was completed.

In any building where lead test results show even one water outlet above the action level of 15 parts per billion (ppb), the DOE implements its standard response protocol, under which it removes any drinking or food prep outlet from service, flushes all or part of the system to eliminate water sitting in pipes overnight, replaces equipment and re-tests after the equipment is replaced. As part of our remediation protocols, fixture(s) that were out of order or inaccessible at the time of the initial testing were repaired and tested. All drinking or food prep fixtures are only put back in service once results of laboratory tests are below the action level of 15 ppb.

Out of an abundance of caution, the custodial staff will continue to flush the J.H.S. 25 – Manhattan water systems on Monday mornings before school starts in order to eliminate water that has been stagnant in pipes over the weekend and to ensure safe drinking water is available for students and staff.

A more detailed letter related to the testing for lead at J.H.S. 25 – Manhattan is attached, and complete test results are posted on the DOE website at https://www.schools.nyc.gov/ schools/M515. Click Data and Reports and look for the Facilities Heading.

Please visit https://www.schools.nyc.gov/about-us/reports/water-safety to learn more about the robust protocol we use to ensure the safety of drinking water in each and every school, as well as to look up water test results for each school.

Thank you for your patience and support and we wish you and your students a wonderful semester.

As we approach 2019, we reflect back on our accomplishments. We continue to work hard as we look forward to the future.

We have improved attendance, student passing rates, and graduation rates. All of our students, especially our graduating seniors, are all involved in the college application process. Students have been building new friendships with people from all over the world– all with common goals of pursuing a better way of life.

Through our Learning to Work Grant, in collaboration with CAMBA, students have formed adult relationships with counselors and have begun to plan their futures in regards to career and college readiness. Several students have received paid internships and we plan to increase the number of participants as we move forward. We continue all of our programs including our partnership with Lincoln Center, our 7 Advanced Placement Courses in Calculus, Chemistry, English Language US Government, Art, Chinese and Spanish.

We continue our after school programs including Robotics, SAT Prep, Dance, Art, Walking Talking New York, Choir, PSAL Boys Basketball and Co-ed Table Tennis. The 2nd marking period formative assessments took place during the week of November 12th. The 2nd marking period ends November 21st. Regents Prep courses will start on December 1st thru December 15th, and again on January 5th thru January 19th.

You never know who is sitting next to you on the train or standing in line with you at the supermarket or who is sitting in class with our children. At this time of year, it is customary to think of our neighbors in need; we try to keep those in need in our minds all year long. If you are in need, let us know; if you are in a position to help others, please consider doing so.

We wish you and your family a peaceful, healthy and happy holiday season. All good things to you and yours.